Archive for 'Courthouses'

From its inception in 1862 Lander County’s courthouse has moved around with the ebbs and flows of population. The first, in Jacobsville, was a simple wooden affair. But then a newly-discovered vein of silver in Austin prompted the county to move its seat – and its courthouse – to Austin ust a few months after the building’s completion.

Humboldt County moved its county seat from Unionville to Winnemucca in 1873. In 1874 the first courthouse, costing $47,800 was constructed. It was destroyed by fire in 1918. Noted Nevada architect Frederick DeLongchamps designed the present structure.

The original Elko County Courthouse was built in 1869 for $20,000. After its completion, the county commissioners refused to pay the builder an additional $240 for the locks in the building. The present building was built in 1910 and sits on the site of its predecessor.

A rivalry with neighboring Humboldt County prompted the commissioners of Pershing County to plan a courthouse in Lovelock that would put that of their northern neighbor to shame. Frederick J. DeLongchamps, the premiere Nevada architect of the day, was commissioned to design the structure.

Eureka County built its courthouse in 1879. The courtroom includes original pressed tin ceiling and wood features. A semicircular enclosure for the clerk of the court directly in front of the judge’s bench is noteworthy.